Cornilles is the
Republican nominee in the Jan. 31 special election to replace former
U.S. Rep. David Wu. He’s running by talking up his credentials on the
No. 1 issue voters want to hear about: creating Oregon jobs.

His proof has been
the success of his sports marketing company, Game Face, which his
campaign claims is “one of the most influential consulting and executive
training firms in the sports industry—worldwide.”

But news reports have
since shrunk those claims down to size, citing problems with
regulators, tax liens and the fact his company is a ghost of its former
self.

What has received
less attention is one of Cornilles’ chief campaign pitches: that tax
breaks hurt small businesses and their ability to create jobs.

“Who gets stuck
paying a full tax bill?” Cornilles asks on his campaign website. “People
like you and me, and small and medium-sized companies like the ones in
Oregon that don’t have tens of millions of dollars to stuff the tax code
with special-interest perks.”

HERE’S THE PITCH: Cornilles' ad.

But
earlier this year, Cornilles led a team that proposed revamping
Portland’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum—a plan that counted on millions of
tax breaks for its investors.

Cornilles and his partners proposed an $80 million remodel of Memorial Coliseum that relied on big tax breaks for its investors.

He and his partners,
financier Kirk Iverson and producer Tim Lawrence, sought to turn the
Coliseum into what they called an “Oregon Media Free Enterprise Zone.”

Dubbed the Veterans
Media Center, the former Coliseum site would become a giant multimedia
facility, including sound stages, production studios and three theaters.

“This concept is
quintessentially Portland,” Cornilles says on the proposal’s website.
“Veterans Media Center will fuse Oregon’s creativity and natural
resources with an industry searching for a more sustainable place to
produce innovative content. We’ll create family wage jobs while
expanding a market, and our region will experience such an economic boon
that we’ll find ourselves front and center on the worldwide media
stage.”

The proposal counted
on substantial tax breaks for investors, who “will receive a 100% State
of Oregon (transferable) tax write-off in addition to federal matching
incentives co-developed by the City,” according to a May business plan.

Backers said at the time the proposal could be eligible for as much as $30 million in tax credits.

Cornilles and his partners held a flurry of meetings with elected officials and business leaders this year to pitch the idea.

When WW asked
Cornilles about the potential tax breaks, however, he said he didn’t
recall they were part of his partnership’s proposal. (News of the
potential for tax credits for the project, however, appeared in news
reports; see “Lights! Camera! Coliseum!” WW, May 18, 2011.)

When shown a copy of his group’s plan, he said one of his partners wrote it.

“I’m not as familiar
with it as you might think,” Cornilles says. “It was not a formal
proposal.” He said the plan was simply “a concept.”

The plan so far has
had little traction, and Cornilles continues to use his company, Game
Face, to bolster his campaign claims that he’s a job creator.

“Oregon needs job
creators and career builders, something Rob has been doing successfully
for nearly 20 years,” his campaign says. “Voters of the First
Congressional District have an alternative. In this Special Election, we
can choose between a career politician or a career builder.”

His opponent, state
Sen. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Beaverton), has no record of job creation.
She’s worked as a government lawyer for three years, and in private
practice for another three before giving up her practice to raise a
family.

That’s given Cornilles an open field to talk about his experience as a businessman and to promote his plans to create jobs.

Cornilles founded
Game Face Inc., in Tualatin in 1995. Since then, the company has worked
in three areas of the sports business. He trained people to become
sports franchise employees, recruited front-office personnel for sports
teams, and advised and trained teams how to sell more tickets.

“We have an unusual and unprecedented ability to actually know what teams want and need,” Cornilles tells WW.